Of Smoke and Shattered Glass
by as skies fall
Summary: The students of Degrassi face a tragedy that will forever change their lives. Revolves around Paige, Spinner, Marco, Ellie, and Emma.
1. Introduction

**May 29, 3:00pm. Degrassi High School.**  
  
Paige Michalchuk watched the clock intently, counting down the seconds. The end of the year was drawing closer and many of the students were getting excited for summer break, but Paige was anxious for a different reason. She had been waiting for months to hear back from Toronto University, and she had a gut feeling that her letter would come today. She had been working hard over the past few years to get into college, making sacrifices the 'old Paige' would have never made. But still, she was able to manage her time well, and became the star cheerleader as well as the model student.  
The second hand on the wall clock lurched desperately as the hour hand locked to '3' and the minute hand locked to '12'. The bell began to ring and Paige's heart skipped a beat. She leapt up from her seat and ran straight for the parking lot, kissing her boyfriend Spinner on the cheek as she flew past. She drove home faster than usual, her heart pounding hard in her chest, and as she approached her mailbox she wanted to scream in excitement. She plunged her hand in and pulled out a large white envelope. This was it, the letter from Toronto University. She took a deep breath and slowly tore it open, realizing that her entire future was in the envelope. Her heart began to pound faster and harder as she pulled out the letter inside...  
  
**3:10pm. Just outside of Degrassi High School.  
**  
Marco Del Rossi sighed as he set his backpack on a picnic table on the grass. As he sat down, he pulled out his chemistry textbook and began to read up on covalent bonds. In a matter of mere seconds he slammed the book shut and put his head down on the table. He didn't understand a word of it. He only took chemistry because his parents made him. He didn't care about significant figures or the atomic weight of helium. He just wanted to enjoy his last week as a high school student. The last thing he wanted was the worry of a tough exam hanging over his head.  
He stuffed his book back in his backpack and got up. As he began to walk home, he saw a familiar face – a tall boy with blond hair and the build of a hockey player. It was Dylan Michalchuk and Marco was more than happy to see him. Dylan was older than Marco was; he had already graduated and was playing Junior 'A' hockey in Toronto. However, it appeared that he didn't notice Marco and walked past without saying a word. Marco turned and tried to get his attention, but the words got caught in his throat. His stomach tied in knots, he turned around in defeat and walked home.  
  
**3:10pm. Degrassi High School.**  
  
Ellie Nash felt like she couldn't take it anymore. She sat silently in the far stall of the girl's bathroom, tears biting at her eyes. She snapped the rubber bands on her wrists over and over, but it was simply not doing the trick anymore. She had no real reason to be depressed. She wasn't having any relationship problems and everything was going fine at home, but for some reason she got the urge to cut herself every once and a while. So there she sat, on the verge of tears, desperately trying to rid her system of the addiction that was plaguing her.  
  
**3:30pm. The Nelson Residence.  
**  
Emma Nelson trudged home, completely exhausted from school. Her grades had been slipping a little, but she thought she had it under control. She swung the front door open and tossed her bag loudly on the floor.  
"Emma! Keep it down will you?! Your mother is sick and needs some peace and quiet!" It was her stepfather, the media immersion teacher at Degrassi – Mr. Simpson. She just sighed. He was always yelling at her these days. She hadn't taken three more steps before he appeared before her.  
"Emma, we need to talk. Now."  
She quietly nodded, wondering what he could possibly be mad about this time. She followed him into the kitchen and sat down at the table, facing him.  
"Look, I can see what's going on," he started, "and it has to stop now. I can't allow you to see Chris anymore."  
"What?" Emma yelled as she slammed her hand down on the table. She started to defend herself when he interrupted.  
"Quiet, please! Emma, your grades have been slipping, you've been coming home late, you're always tired and worn out. You spend too much time with him and it's ruining your life."  
Anger rose from deep within Emma. He didn't understand. He didn't know anything. Who was he to mess with her life? She stood up and said, looking straight into his eye,  
"Have you ever thought that my grades are slipping because I'm taking senior level classes? Have you ever thought that I'm tired because I'm up late at the library studying?" She grew angrier and angrier as she spoke, her face turning red and her hands shaking, "No, you'd never think that because just hate Chris. You're always blaming him. He's always the problem to you. Well, I'm sorry, but he is a big part of my life and you shouldn't start pointing fingers because you have no idea what's going on!"  
"That's enough Emma! Don't you lie to me. I know exactly what's going on!"  
Emma's blood began to boil. She was so mad she couldn't even speak. She just screamed out in frustration and turned violently around, knocking the chair over, and ran up to her room. Mr. Simpson followed her up a little later, realizing that he had overreacted, and that he could be wrong about his assumptions.  
"Emma, listen..." he began as he knocked on her door, but Emma interrupted.  
"I HATE YOU!"


	2. 7:00am

**May 30, 7:00am. The Mason Residence.  
**  
Spinner Mason's alarm had been beeping for the past thirty minutes. Slightly rousing from his slumber, he rolled over and turned it off. He went back to sleep.  
  
**7:00am. The Nash Residence**.  
  
Ellie woke up, feeling worse than the day before. Although she resisted the urge to cut the previous day, she wanted to now more than ever. She quickly snapped her rubber bands and began looking for clothes to wear, trying to take her mind off wanting to cut. Beginning to panic, she quickly grabbed some clothes and took off to school, hoping that her classes would take the burden off her mind.  
  
**7:00am. The Del Rossi Residence.**  
  
Marco woke up feeling quite refreshed. It was the first time in a good while that he had slept a full eight hours. As he got ready for the day, there was something in the back of his mind that wouldn't go away, a stray thought that started to distract him, and for the first time in a month, it had nothing to do with chemistry. It was Dylan. Ever since Marco had seen him the other day, he could not keep Dylan out of his mind. He regretted that he had never confessed his true feelings to Dylan, and now more than ever he wanted to. He walked out the front door of his house with a smile on his face, hoping that he would see Dylan on the way to school.  
  
**7:00am. The Michalchuk Residence**.  
  
Paige still had a smile on her face when she woke up, her letter from Toronto University still tightly clutched in her hand. She read it over and over again, just to make sure. Euphoric, she skipped down the stairs and into the kitchen, handing her letter to her mom.  
"I got in, Mom!" She blurted out, "And, they're giving me a full ride scholarship!"  
"Oh, congratulations!" Her mom replied, enveloping her in a huge hug.  
Finally, her future was looking bright, and she never felt better. After the hug ended she hurried off to school. She couldn't wait to tell Spinner.  
  
**7:00am. The Nelson Residence.  
**  
Emma had barely slept a wink; she was kept up by her rage toward her stepfather. When her alarm clock rang, she quickly got dressed, and walked quickly down the stairs, trying to avoid him, and of course, just as she reached the door, he was standing there. He began to speak, but she just brushed past him, quickly walking off to school. _I wish he'd just die_, she thought, her face reddening with anger again. 


	3. 11:00am

**11am. The Mason Residence.  
**  
Spinner suddenly jerked out of his sleep, sweat running down his face, his heart pounding. Something weird was going on in his mind, something foreign and strange. He knew that something was wrong, terribly wrong. He began to worry and panic, terrible scenarios running through his mind. He needed to check on Paige.  
  
**11am. Degrassi High School.  
**  
In Mrs. Kwan's class, Paige was looking around nervously, not paying attention to a word Mrs. Kwan was saying. Spinner had not shown up at school, and she was worried about him. At first, when he wasn't waiting for her on the front steps in the morning, she figured he was just running late. But he hadn't shown up for any of his classes, and she was worried sick. Terrible scenarios were running through her mind.  
The bell rang, snapping Paige out of her thoughts and signaling the end of class. She got up slowly from her seat and walked to her locker, crossing her arms. She threw her backpack in the locker and waited there for several minutes, thinking and worrying about Spinner, wondering if he was okay, wondering if he was dead. She sat down against the locker, becoming immersed in her thoughts. Suddenly, someone bumped into her, breaking her chain of thought. It was Marco, who was walking with Ellie down to the cafeteria.  
"Oh, sorry Paige," Marco said as he continued walking.  
Marco and Ellie had just been having a conversation about impressionist art when he bumped into Paige. As they continued walked toward the cafeteria, Ellie walked toward the girl's bathroom and said,  
"Go ahead, I'll meet up with you in the cafeteria."  
Emma was on her way out of the bathroom as Ellie was on her way in. They exchanged a short look, but didn't say anything because they didn't know each other too well. As Ellie locked herself into the far stall, Emma began walking down to the cafeteria, looking around in order to try and avoid her stepfather.  
  
It was 11:15am. Emma had just sat down, and was opening up her bag lunch. Paige was in the hallway, walking toward the cafeteria. Ellie was in the girl's bathroom, contemplating whether or not to cut herself. Marco was eating lunch alone. Spinner was in his car, speeding toward Degrassi High School. This is where they all were when the first shots rang out.  
  
A boy, about 5 feet and 9 inches tall with brown hair and blue eyes had just stood up on a table. He clutched a black pistol tight in his fist, looked around for a few brief seconds, and fired two shots. They connected with a pretty 10th grade girl that was sitting nearby. She slumped in her chair, blood pouring from the wounds in her chest. She was dead.  
Instantly, the cafeteria erupted into mass chaos. The students were in a panic, running around, desperately trying to find a way out. So many students had run for the doors, but not all of them could fit through at the same time. It was a traffic jam, and Marco was at the back of it.  
The boy jumped off the table and menacingly walked toward the mass of students trying to escape. He grabbed Marco from behind, and turned him around. Marco didn't have a chance to defend himself. He didn't even have a chance to plea for his life. He just made contact with the shooter's cold blue eyes, and as he opened his mouth to say something, the shooter just said, "Fag," and shot Marco in the face. Blood splattered everywhere sending the students into more of a panic. As the students made their way out, the shooter just stood there, laughing.  
Emma ran down the hall, tears streaming down her face. How could this happen at Degrassi? How could someone do such a terrible thing? Shots steadily rang out from behind her, screams hanging in the air for minutes. She only ran faster, desperately looking for the nearest exit. Suddenly a voice spoke from behind her.  
"Emma Nelson," said the shooter, sneering sinisterly, "model student, environmental activist. When will you learn to mind your own business?" He raised his gun at her, preparing to squeeze the trigger when it happened. A door swung open beside her and a tall man with short hair ran out, pushing her down. By this time, the bullet was already sailing through the air, straight ahead. It hit Mr. Simpson in the chest, killing him instantly. He fell to the ground, right beside Emma, covered in blood. As she saw the glazed over, empty look in his eyes all she could do was cry. Just earlier that day she said she wished he would die, and now it had come true. She sobbed loudly, regretting everything she'd said in the past 24 hours, apologizing so profusely over his body. But nothing could bring him back. He was gone forever now, he died defending his stepdaughter, regardless of the fact that less than 24 hours ago she'd said she hated him.  
The shooter spun around and headed in a different direction, laughing evilly and shooting everyone he could.  
  
Ellie shook violently with fear, trying desperately to keep quiet and hidden. She had been in the bathroom this whole time hiding from the hell that waited just outside the door.  
  
Paige ran down the hall, following the throng of students headed for the front door, crying hysterically. Just yesterday her future was looking so bright, but now it was being put in jeopardy by some kid who thought he had the right to kill. She was right next to the girl's bathroom when a shot rang out from behind her, followed by a cruel voice.  
"Well if it isn't Paige Michalchuk," the shooter said with sick pleasure in his voice, "I always hated cheerleaders. Why don't you do a cheer for me?" He laughed cruelly.  
"Look, I don't know who you are, but just leave me alone. I never did anything to hurt anyone," she said to him and then paused slightly, waiting for a response. The shooter only grinned. "Why are you doing this?" she continued, "What gives you the right to kill. I only want to live my life, to go to college, to marry my boyfriend. I don't know whatever problem drove you to this, but just let it go! Just let me go!"  
As she turned around to run away, he fired two bullets, right at her heart. After two steps, the hit her in the middle of the back. She fell roughly to the floor, coughing up blood. As her vision faded into the fluorescent lights above, she could only thing one thing.  
  
_Why me?_


	4. Conclusion

**11:45am. Degrassi High School.**  
  
It was over. The carnage, the mayhem, the chaos. It was all over. The shooter, when faced by the police decided to turn his gun upon himself. Spinner waited solemnly behind the police line, his face buried in his hands. Emma sat still by her stepfather's side as the paramedics came and tried to revive him. It was pointless. Ellie still waited in the bathroom, shaking with fear, blood silently dripping from the fresh cuts that criss-crossed her arms.  
  
_ If only I didn't sleep in today. If only I would've woken up. This isn't right, it can't be right. Good people just aren't supposed to die. She had such a bright future... Oh God, why couldn't I have woken up?! I could've been there for her, I could have saved her life! And if not, I could have at least kissed her one last time. It's just not fair!!!  
_ Spinner snapped out of his thoughts as he slammed his hand hard down on the pavement. He looked around and saw survivors hugging their families, he saw them hugging their friends and comforting those who had lost loved ones. He was the only one that was alone. For the first time in his life he truly cared about something, Paige, and she had been stolen away from him.  
  
_Why did I say that? Why did I have to say that I wished he would die? I should have been the one to die. Why did he save me? I don't deserve to be saved. I'm scum. I couldn't even be thankful for having such a caring stepfather, and now I guess I've gotten what I deserve. It's just not fair!  
_ Someone was shaking her shoulder.  
"Miss Nelson?" It was a police officer.  
She nodded.  
"We're going to need to take you down to the station to ask you some questions if that's okay."  
She nodded again and got up to follow him.  
  
Ellie swung open the door and looked out into the hall. Several dead bodies littered the floor, which was soaked in blood. Several windows were broken, their shattered panes strewn about the carpet. It smelled faintly of blood and smoke. She could only stand there in complete shock, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She only had one thought.  
  
_ It's just not fair.  
_  
It's strange and sad how life can change in a moment, how everything a person has built up in their life can be saved or destroyed in one second. That decision to sleep in, that last minute choice to go to the bathroom can save your life, but all it takes to shatter it is the pull of a trigger. It's just not fair. 


End file.
